Zhang Xueliang’s Former Residence at Jiangyuan

Zhang Xueliang’s Former Residence at Jiangyuan

Zhang Xueliang’s Former Residence at Jiangyuan is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Zhang Xueliang’s Former Residence at Jiangyuan is located on Fenghuang Street in Anyuan District. “Jiangyuan” was the residence of Mr. Xiao Junjiang, a professor at Wuhan University at the time. In 1937, when Zhang Xueliang was under house arrest and traveling from Xikou in Fenghua, Zhejiang, through Huangshan to Pingxiang, he stayed here. Because Zhang Xueliang had lived in this place, in 2005, the Pingxiang Municipal Government listed it as a “Pingxiang Municipal Cultural Relic Protection Unit” under the name “Zhang Xueliang’s Former Residence at Jiangyuan.”

Zhang Xueliang’s diary entry reads: “On November 20, 1937, I passed through Nanchang and stayed overnight in Gao’an. At noon on the 21st, I arrived in Pingxiang and stayed at Ganxi Hotel… On November 29, I moved from Ganxi Hotel to Jiangyuan. This garden is the residence of a family surnamed Xiao, and I rented part of it.” Jiangyuan is located within the city of Pingxiang. It was completed in the first half of 1937 and is a two-story building in traditional Chinese architectural style, surrounded by walls and a courtyard, making it one of the more upscale residences in Pingxiang at the time. The owner, Xiao Junjiang, was a professor in the Mathematics Department at Wuhan University at the time. When the residence was newly built, literati in Pingxiang gifted a celebratory couplet: “A court of one mu, a room enclosed; birds and rats have gone, a gentleman resides.” “Birdsong is often heard, walk alone with your towel off; the bright moon shines on the fine house, with the good wind accompanying you.” Zhang Xueliang and his wife Yu Fengzhi moved into the second floor of Jiangyuan to live. Shortly after Zhang Xueliang left Pingxiang, in mid-January 1938, the famous painter and literatus Feng Zikai came to Pingxiang to escape the war. In February, he gifted the owner of Jiangyuan a painting titled “Picture of Jiangyuan,” which is now preserved in the Pingxiang City Museum. The painting depicts a tall pine tree in front of Jiangyuan’s gate, beneath which stands a flute seller wearing a flute bag over his shoulder, playing the bamboo flute. A boy and a girl watch the flute player with great interest. Unfortunately, Mr. Feng and General Zhang missed meeting each other.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units